The defending champions of the Indian Playerzpot T20 League will be in focus when 2023 begins. Being one of the two new franchises to commence their journey in the famed T20 league, they already have made history as they won the tournament in their first-ever season. Coming off on the back of their victorious round, there are already expectations mounting up on the shoulder of H. Pandya and the team to do a repeat of last year.
Indeed the Gujarat team is now placed amongst the heavyweights such as Mumbai and Chennai. Talk about changes in the team, they have made minimal ones as they are banking on the tried and tested formula of the last season’s success. They brought in a specialist wicketkeeper KS. Bharat, while adding J. Little to their bowling attack. K. Williamson and O. Smtih were also the highlights of their auction.
The Gujarat team looks balanced with the addition of experienced players with new talented individuals. It really will be a tough task for the captain and team management to zero in on their best X1 but that is indeed a good problem to have. Speaking of players, let us have a look at players who can have a big influence in terms of results for Gujarat this season.
Key Players from Gujarat Team
D. Miller
A player who goes by the name of Killer Miller sure gives you an idea of what he brings to the table. Miller is an absolutely devastating batter to handle when he is on his flow, last season he wreaked havoc in the opposition bowling attack with his flurry of shots, 94* was his highest individual score last time out scoring a total of 481 runs. Having notched up more than 2000 runs in the Indian Playerzpot League, he sure knows what it takes to clinch the title and he will be hungry for more this season.
H. Pandya
His journey and comeback has been remarkable, being dropped from the national teams and being ousted by his former team Mumbai, he was looking for redemption which he gained with Gujarat Team. Leading from the front, Pandya was sharp with the ball and focused in his approach. 487 runs last season signifying his anchoring role for the team and how vital were his knocks, moreover, he also picked up 8 wickets with the ball thus shutting all the noise about his role as a proper all-rounder. H. Pandya needs to be at his best if Gujarat are locking its sights on another title.
S. Gill
Touted as the next big thing in Indian cricket, Gill truly made his presence felt in the 2022 season with Gujarat. Often his partnership with Miller was the one that provided the team with an explosive start. Young, fearless, and determined, Gill has all the making of a great cricket player, With 483 runs he had his best run-scoring season with Gujarat. Surely one title would not be enough for Gill and Gujarat alike and therefore more is expected of him.
R. Khan
If there is one player who knows how to exploit the pitch condition to his advantage and get the better of batsmen it is R. Khan. The Afghanistan spinner is a true genius in his own right and that is why Gujarat spent a whopping INR 15 crore to get hold of him at the auction. 19 wickets in his first season did justify his inclusion in the team. The spinner also came in for the clutch in a game where he displayed his batting prowess which was unexpected of him. R. Khan is the sort of spinner every team would like to have and that is what makes him so special.
M. Shami
Gujarat needed a leading pace bowler and they went and picked M. Shami from all the popular options made available to them. Shami in return was instrumental in the title-winning season leading the charge of bowling, be it powerplay overs or death overs he was always on his best for his side. Picking up 20 wickets for Gujarat he made a statement that he still has the caliber in the shorted format of the game and that too against the best of the individuals out there. Needless to say, he once again will be leading the charge for Gujarat this time around.
Full Gujarat Squad
Gujarat: H. Pandya [C], A, Manohar, D. Miller, S. Gill, M. Wade, W. Saha, S. Sudharsan, D. Nalkande, J. Yadav, P. Sangwan, R. Tewatia, S. Mavi, V. Shankar, A. Joseph, M. Shami, N. Ahmad, S. Kishore, R. Khan, Y. Dayal, K. Williamson, J. Little, O. Smith, U. Patel, K.S Bharat, M. Sharma.
Predicted Playing X1
S. Gill, K. Williamson, M. Wdae, H. Pandya. K.S Bharat, R. Tewatia, R. Khan, S. Kishore, M. Shami, A. Joseph, Y. Dayal.
